2.0.7

OpenTracker 2.0.7: release notes

OpenTracker is an open-source, clean-room firmware for the original Polyend Tracker,
written from behavioural specifications. It contains no Polyend code, fonts, icons or
graphics, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Polyend.

2.0 brings the newer Tracker features to the original hardware: 16 tracks, synth
engines, stereo samples, Mini-compatible project files and USB Storage mode.

Big thanks to @syamajala @idagani , @quadpunk, Ismoketobaccoinabong, and Musojon74 for reporting bugs, testing, and helping me track down and fix all the issues. Really appreciate all your help and support! 🙏

New in 2.0.7

Fixes:

• A screen could freeze when it needed more than the display chip can hold (reported on
  one unit when switching from Master to Track Mixer). The firmware now checks what the chip
  reports: a page that does not fit is drawn with slightly less detail instead of freezing.
• Track Mixer volume, mute and solo now act on tracks that play a synth. Before, the
  fader of a track playing Synth 1-3 changed nothing (only its sample voice was scaled).
• Track Mixer meters now move for tracks that play a synth. Before, a track playing
  Synth 1-3 always showed an empty meter (only sample tracks were measured).
• Global Mixer 3/3 meters did not move. The two meters of Delay, Reverb, Dry Mix and
  Line In now show each channel's level (left and right), with the same scale as the Track
  Mixer meters.
• Pattern Instr column: pads previewed each instrument a semitone higher than the last
  (including Synth 1-3 on pads 17-19). A pad there now auditions the instrument at C
  (note 60), like stock.
• File: the Open Project and Import Mod lists stopped at 64 entries. They now hold up to
  200 (stock: 80).
• Sample Editor: pads now play the sample being edited. They played the instrument through
  the Sample Playback settings, so a crop or effect was only heard after it was applied. Pads
  now audition the selection with the current effect, like Preview, and stop when released.
• Sample Editor: after moving the Start marker, the audition was cut short at the end. The
  preview reused audio processed for the old selection. It now always plays the current
  selection from its Start marker.
• Sample Recorder: the waveform is white while recording, like the other sample views.
  It was drawn in red; the red "Recording" header stays.
• Naming keyboard: the name was unreadable on the Monochrome theme (light grey on the
  light name box). It is now black there; the other themes are unchanged.
• Instrument Automation 2/2: Up/Down were reversed in the Destination and Type lists.
  Up now moves up the list, as in the Speed list.
• Instrument Automation 2/2: the Volume LFO Speed list showed speeds it cannot use. The
  volume LFO runs from 24 steps down, so the list now starts at "24 steps", as on stock.
• Confirmation popups: Cancel / Confirm were drawn over "Play Mode". On Sample Playback
  (for example "Slices will be rewritten"), Sample Editor and Instrument Automation the page's
  own selector stayed in the bar under the popup's labels. It is now hidden while the popup
  is open.
• Undo messages now use the stock text: "No undo data :(" on the Song screen, "No undo
  data." and "No redo data." elsewhere. As on stock, Song Undo reverts pattern clears and
  pastes, not slots added or deleted in the song list.
• Vertical text was garbled with the second display font (Song track headers, Performance
  labels): narrow letters such as r, i and l lost their stems. Turned text is now sampled from
  the right pixel column.
• Fill: Left/Right now move between the fields. Before, they changed the value like
  Up/Down. Up/Down and the encoder still change the selected field.

Also new:

• Stereo sampling in the Sample Recorder. With the Line in source and Config > Line in
  channel set to Stereo, recordings are now stereo: the left and right inputs are kept, saved
  as a stereo WAV, and Save & Load gives a stereo instrument. The Source shows "Line in ST"
  ("Line in L" / "Line in R" for the mono settings), the level column shows two meters side by
  side, and the recording header shows "ST". The waveform shows two lanes, left on top and right
  below (as on the Tracker+), with one pair of Start/End markers for both. A stereo recording
  uses twice the memory, so the maximum recording time is halved: about 67 s instead of 134 s with an empty sample memory.
  The setup page shows the free time for the current mode. The radio and the microphone still
  record in mono. This is an OpenTracker extra; the Tracker Mini records mono.
  Stereo is the factory setting of Line in channel (as on stock), so after updating, Line in
  recordings are stereo unless you set Line in channel to Mono Left or Mono Right.
• Sample Editor: pads play the edit at their pitch. Each pad plays the selection (with the
  current effect) at its note, like the pads in the Sample Recorder: lower pads play it lower
  and slower, higher pads higher and faster. Preview and MIDI notes still play it at its own
  pitch.
• OpenTracker preset pack (separate download, OpenTracker-Presets-1.0.zip): 36 synth
  patches of our own (12 ACD, 16 VAP, 8 PERC kits), each with six named macros. Copy the
  files into /Patches/ACD, /Patches/VAP and /Patches/PERC on the card, then use
  Load Patch on a synth page.
• More free memory for future features (the synth patches moved to the external RAM).